fandom: Initial D
title: Invincible.
pairing: Ryousuke x Takumi
rating: pg-13
description: Ryousuke suddenly appears at Takumi 's house to ask him a favor, but is there something underlying his request? (Note: Shounen-ai)
Disclaimer – Initial D is the property of Shuuichi Shigeno.
Invincible.
By Miyamoto Yui
Chapter 25 – The Equal Line.
The FC's sending subdued warnings. I'm already in danger.
Many battles have occurred between our first and last…
Yet only you can still make me feel like my fingers have never touched a car.
A little to the right and to the left, it resembles the peak of Akina, but I was too conscious of Ryousuke's presence beside me. The heat courses through my body and it spills into a single coherent question: Chaser or pursued?
All the while, traces of desperation that once spurred me to run away were slowly being replaced by something more endurable.
I have the courage to trust myself. So will you let me hunt you, Ryou?
Pressing the accelerator to the floor, the tires screeched and when we hit the first corner, the red of his lights vanished down the small slope. When I meet them again, he's pulling away.
You're no longer stalling for weaknesses.
A flicker of my father comes to mind. He's laughing the first time he passed me on Akina.
But instead of easing the tension on the accelerator after being crushed by my only advantage, my heart was beating faster to a hazardous rhythm. I smiled at Ryousuke's demure provocation.
I want this man. So much so, I want him to break for me.
This person who has been calculating to the last millimeter ever since I've stepped across his path, he knows EVERYTHING I'll try.
But that's exactly why you want to hold me down…
I will never make it easy for you.
That 0.01 percent is my advantage: Unpredictability.
We enter the second zone and again, a right, left, right, and a wide turn to the left…
I brake later and exit faster, so this time, he was chasing me. My hands grabbed onto the steering wheel even tighter than before as I caught glimpses of him in my rearview mirror. The blinding lights behind me constantly reminded me that only one mistake was all it took to lose everything.
Right, left…
To our right side, it was like Akagi's expanse of grass below the observatory. And there were people behind the safety road barriers, though I couldn't ever hear them.
I am always trying to get ahead of you, but it sometimes seems so hopeless.
Like before, the pressure from behind intensified, ready to pulverize all I've been striving for.
You're doing it all over again…Those mental puzzles that keep saying: Will you ever go ahead? Don't you want to lead the way?
You do know I'm just allowing you to do as you please because I'm biding my time until I'll make you kneel for mercy?
We're rushing through the halfway mark of the course. The lights brush over the area where there's no railing on the right…
This is insane…
And I know you're enjoying this.
Turning a full left, again, I watched as the FC flies ahead to overtake me.
"Shit~!" I gulped as he was clawing on all the faults I had yet to comprehend, dragging my whole being invisibly against the rocky ground in full speed.
"AM I STILL THIS WEAK?!"
My voice drowned out with the engine and the tires squealed while squeezing through the next wide right turn. My throbbing hands press on the steering wheel as if they'd give me some leeway. Pushing in one centimeter at a time as he wove in and out of view, I refused to be left behind even as he blocked me from moving forward.
The closer I came to finding the true potential below Ryousuke's passionate nature, my heart was being devoured.
I willingly want to be destroyed for this crazy love.
So how can I win you over, Ryousuke? When will you be satisfied with this race?
I know a million years have passed since your roses were delivered into my hands. That we are not those people anymore. But even now, it seems you know more about me than I about you.
Once and for all, I want to have the upper hand!
My aching hands pounded in sync with the rest of my skin. I held onto the gear shift, right wrist over left wrist, pushing on the clutch...
This is everything I've got. Ao and myself are running ragged to the last extent…
Swerving from heartbeat to heartbeat, I was approaching the FC and ready to overtake it, not wavering as I did before. But when the road split in half, I was being torn apart.
NO~!
The inside line that I was supposed to take was locked in so I'd lost a second!
It's almost the end! Ao, please help me…I must reach this person!
There it was…the closest to a straightaway was coming up ahead. It was my last hope.
I didn't bother to look at the speedometer, going past the point where even I didn't know if I could survive…
Right wide turn, and then a left one…
Everything became a single line of light, as if my soul was taking over.
I don't have to worry…don't have to think…
Just GO.
"TURN DAMN IT~!" My voice screamed as my eyes glanced at the finish line.
This isn't the fastest one for a time attack. I've discovered MY own line.
In that split second, the nose of the Impreza blocked the white FC while taking the outside line…
And Ao didn't spin out of control.
When Ryousuke stops exactly at the finish, I park in front of him so that we are facing one another.
"Hah…hah…"
I was finally conscious that I was breathing hard with Ao's engine running. Taking my hands away from the steering wheel, they feel heavy and almost dead. Pressing myself against the headrest, my eyes closed within the blurriness of Ryousuke's carnivorous gaze.
My hand patted the leather seat affectionately. "We did it, Ao."
The engine didn't blow up…That's right. The '86 isn't here…
Tears well up in my eyes.
It's an almost perfect moment.
When I open my eyes, I saw the members of our team and the immense crowd. Their roaring blended together as I put my hands on the dashboard to make sure it was all real.
This is always my favorite part. It's enough reason for me to carry on.
My body was at the tip of having a breakdown, but my soul was freed of its own restraints.
For now, this was the best I could have done. I had found the reason why I've raced, and why I fought so hard.
I held my heart and smiled.
Unlocking the door, I stepped out. Kenta and Keisuke, who were standing next to the FC, cheered with their arms in the air. But on the other side of the FC, Ryousuke's flustered face looked picturesque. The beam of my headlights surrounded him and his head studied the stars with his eyes half closed and his teeth showing in a sweet grin.
To see this is a reward unlike any other.
"Takumi!"
I could recognize that voice anywhere, but in a moment of bliss, it could have been an illusion. Squeezing through the multitude of people, Natsuki ran over while waving at me. I thought I was still dreaming as she held my warm arms with her cool hands.
You're still as vivacious as I've always kept you in my memories. Suddenly, I'm back to the time you walked past me in the soccer club with that killer smile…
"Natsuki?"
She tilted her head to one side. The smile that always greeted me in school still could pinch me whichever way it wanted.
It must be true what they say about first love, but I thought you'd forgotten about me. It's kind of reassuring from the way your eyes are almost winking with a clear "No, I haven't".
"Why are you here?"
"That guy is a fan of Sidewinder." She pointed her thumb in back of her. A neat guy with glasses in a blue and white plaid shirt began to blush. Tiptoeing and covering her mouth, she whispered with a wink, "I guess old habits die hard, don't they?"
My mouth opened a bit. "He looks like someone who can really take care of you."
"He chased after me even though he knew he wasn't my type, but I like him a lot now."
"I'm glad you're doing great."
"You too. You're still the same, but somehow different too. You've definitely found what you wanted, haven't you?" Natsuki took a step away to glance over me from head to toe. "I'm so happy you found your dream. I always believed you would."
Deep inside, I've always had a feeling we would meet one last time. This is my only chance…
I pulled her right hand. "I wanted to always tell you something."
"Yes?"
Holding it firmly, my thumb rubbed against her palm. "Thanks for coming to that one race."
"What? That's so long ago." She gestured politely to indicate it wasn't a big deal.
"And for inviting me to the beach." I held onto her left hand.
"You don't have to thank me for something so small."
I shook my head, now gripping onto her hands bravely for all the things I regretted never saying. "You don't understand. That battle you came to? I only raced for a full tank of gasoline because of you, Natsuki. I wouldn't have found my dream without you."
"You…"
Once more, there was that indescribable charming look that had drawn me towards her when she was the manager of the club. It was much prettier, vibrant as a diamond.
"Hey you. Don't make me regret leaving Gunma." She wiped away a tear from her eye.
I let go and this time, we didn't even say goodbye. She nodded her head and left. We both knew that this would be the last time we'd ever meet.
"Takumi."
The tall figure behind me put his hand over my left wrist, pulling me gently. Everyone gave us space as he led me to the van with all his data, closing the door as we sat on the mattress.
Why are they giving us privacy? Shouldn't we be discussing this outside?
Are Kenta and Keisuke standing outside of van #3 and guarding it?
What's going on?
"Well…" Ryousuke started, covering his Adam's apple while clearing his throat.
I was waiting for his wordy explanation, the one where he would point out all the plusses and minuses of our "immediate battle". Getting ready for the euphoria to wear off so that my brain could process his analysis, I almost coughed when he pulled on my collar.
Looking into his eyes, I could see he was only a man.
His unreasonable, reserved jealousy was startling, making me think had he always been this way? It was endearing to say the least.
It's good to make you sweat sometimes, huh, leader?
This time, I pretended not to know as he kissed me until my knuckles turned white from gripping onto the sides of his shirt. My mind went blank, absorbed in his pace. About to pass out, I gasped for air when he pulled away, reaching out to wipe his thumb on my lips and sucking on it afterwards. Reaching into his back pocket, he patted the sides of his mouth.
Without a word, he left to make the adjustments for the next round.
I'd won him yet why do I feel as if I have more to conquer?
I sat in the van completely stirred and dumbstruck.
*/*/*/*/*/00000
The crowd cheered and the energy around the mountain appeared limitless as we all waited for the FC to cool down enough to be reset for its uphill battle against its sibling.
"I've made all the specs exactly as the FD's." Matsumoto later announced as he pushed the hood down. From across the parking lot, standing in front of the open doors of van #4, Tomiguchi gave a thumbs up from his side.
So at a quarter to 1am, the FD was lining up next to the FC on the starting line at the bottom of the mountain.
With the window down, I leaned through the passenger's side. Crazily, Ryousuke reached out his hand to touch my forearm. "I want you here."
"But it will change the handling-"
His head shook from side to side. "Don't you think I already prepared for that?"
"But…"
This is your time with Keisuke.
"Please."
Sighing, I opened the door and slipped into the seat. His glance at me made speechless all over again. He pulled my hand, intertwining my fingers with his.
Was I imagining it, or did they seem rougher than the last time he held my hand?
I could feel Keisuke's stare at the back of my head.
"I'm sure Kei will be incensed by this alone."
You love torturing him on purpose, don't you?
"You're provoking him?"
"Of course."
"When he was little, his chubby cheeks would turn so red and he'd have these big tears. Quite adorable. I've missed it."
All this was said in a sensible tone that was anything but.
"You're so…"
Terrible? Awful? Sadistic? I can't even find the proper word right now.
"Remember," he said while flashing me a wicked smile, "before there was a Takumi, there was a Kei."
"And what do you mean by that?"
He shrugged his shoulders with sealed lips.
"Ryousuke…"
I turned away, seeing half of Keisuke's uncompromising expression.
Unwinding our hands, Ryousuke positioned his hands on the steering wheel as Kenta stood before the three of us with a look of admiration that was unlike any other. Grinning proudly as the Red Suns' captain, he lifted his chin and hand to the starry sky.
He shouted the countdown while I raised the window.
Like a mystical chant, the numbers revealed something. The smug face transformed to one of dogged persistence.
"GO~!"
And we were off before I caught my breath.
Even though I was aware of it, seeing it in action was a whole new story.
Time had never been so deceitful as it was now. Nearly three hours earlier, I was battling the very car I was sitting inside of. Now, through the legendary FC's windshield, I observed these two brothers not as team partners, but as competitors.
The same course I'd memorized has changed into a jungle, a twin of something I knew but was distinct all on its own.
After all, the same road can't be gone through twice.
Passing the curve where I'd overtaken Ryousuke, I turned my head to regard the person driving in a different light. The severity in Ryousuke's eyes took my breath away.
Was this why Keisuke looked lonely that time?
The more I saw, everything passing us became semitransparent. They wanted me to witness what was between them.
Their truth could only be found here.
Weaving together from side to side, the headlights showed the graceful curves of Tsubaki. But gradually, the self-control that Ryousuke was famous for was disintegrating, secretly landing inside the cracks of this tar surface. His fingers clenched onto the gear shift as he was biting his lip. In front of him, Keisuke was leading him on. The back of the FD sashayed in testing him to come closer than the space permitted.
Chasing from behind, Keisuke's taillights were constantly blinding us. Never relenting yet tempting in timed near-misses.
Where was the racer that lured the ghost of Akina? The Keisuke now was relishing all the rewards of his training, enticed by the mirage he'd always extended his hands out to grab for.
Without rhyme or reason, Ryousuke did something that shattered his image all together. In the next set of wide turns, he alternated between the outside and inside lines. Even I couldn't predict what he wanted to do.
From Keisuke's building impatience, the coordinated capricious act seemed to rattle him, but even more than this, he reveled in exhilaration.
I could also feel Ryousuke's content come out through his maneuvers.
Seeing them together was like art in motion.
This beautiful person who was like glass. Hard enough to take the pressure, thin enough to break. The tough one ahead of us, a razor in the dark, never breaking against the pressure and slashing through everything single-mindedly.
Twisting from right to left to right…
Without filters, I'm viewing everything as it exists.
They know that on some level, the concealed madness that resides in their universe…
…it won't hurt me.
Unlike the two of us, Keisuke laughed at all of his personal dangers, coaxing his older brother to keep tipping him towards hell. Ryousuke, in turn, burned his impression onto others like frostbite, composed enough not to melt but chipping away steadily at the skin.
We were passing through the long switchback when I couldn't recognize the White Comet. When I watched Ryousuke's face again, I couldn't help but feel the person Keisuke had showed me no longer existed. Instead, here was someone who would no longer risk his life aimlessly.
So that's it. It wasn't to tease Keisuke at all, or at least that wasn't all of it. I'm here as proof that you didn't hold yourself back.
That you're racing us on equal footing.
Ryousuke began to sweating and took long breaths, his eyes processing and reacting simultaneously, a second or two of real time lag. It was amazing how his mind adjusted everything minutely.
Staring outside, the FD itself was giggling in ecstasy. Its taillights were gone in seconds, cornering and reappearing with those pianist fingers extending and contracting when Ryousuke's wrists went over one another while turning. In the tidbits of light, I saw the dents, cuts, and blisters.
Was this the result of that special project? Why could he hurt himself voluntarily like that?
"Oh," he commented in subtle delight.
As I looked out my window, the FC was passing the FD. And I saw Keisuke's surprise as he opened his mouth, loving every part of this run.
Ryousuke's profile made my heart temporarily stop.
There it was. That gaze that said he wouldn't be destroyed.
Was this how you looked when you were chasing me? I'm sure if I had seen this from the very start, it would have been love at first sight…
*/*/*/*/*/00000
"YESSSSSSSS~! I DID IT~!"
When I was coming out of the car, Keisuke ran towards his older brother. The yellow door had barely clicked shut before Keisuke reached out to hug Ryousuke. Ryousuke stood in his place, ready for the impact. Not caring about what other people thought, Keisuke, forgetting that he was in his 20's, jumped into his brother's arms like a 5-year-old, smiling in a way only a child knew and one whose playmate had returned.
"Aniki, that was SO AWESOME!" Keisuke snuggled against Ryousuke, who was holding onto his waist and smiling at him in joy.
This special moment showed how much they loved and respected one another, that even their happiness needed to be synchronized. I envied the fact that I couldn't exactly do that with the '86.
I walked to Ao so that I could place my hand on his hood.
But in the next few seconds, Ryousuke searched for me and held out his open arm towards me.
Are you really carrying Keisuke with one arm?
When I stood next to him, he circled his hand around my waist firmly.
I heard a lot of wild screaming as Kenta took a picture of us on his phone.
"Kei, are you crying?" Ryousuke whispered with that hint of brotherly sarcasm.
"No, I'm not! I didn't blink while I was driving because I was too excited and concentrating a lot."
"Right…" Ryousuke winked at him with a devilish grin. "Like the time you cried when your-"
"Don't you dare say it, Aniki!"
He still wouldn't put Keisuke down, and we all laughed at one another.
Matsumoto was touching the top of the FC as Kenta and Tomiguchi hi-fived. Fumihiro rose his arms into the air with his fists pointing to the sky. I had never heard him shout like he did right now.
And my eyes turned back to the two people who had widened the world for me. Ryousuke's hands were still holding Keisuke and me in between them.
Keisuke's face when his brother took him seriously,
that unparalleled elation.
The shadows no longer pursued the White Comet and he was reborn.
I looked into my red hands and was proud to come to know who "Takumi" really was.
Our thoughts, their image of me and my own, as mine of them, finally crossed over.
I'd made it over the Equal Line.
Tsuzuku…/To be continued…
Author's note: *sighs in content* I cannot tell you how happy this chapter made me.
In all these years, I've admired Natsuki's courage to change. It's something hard to do and I think if it weren't someone like her, Takumi really wouldn't have understood anything. She was pulling him to see himself and now that he has, they are on equal footing, both working backwards.
I'm sorry to Takumi and Ryousuke for the moment, but…*fangirl squeals~!* KEISUKE! You're so cute! The punk with a heart of gold getting embarrassed and all happy because he could finally race with his Aniki. (I cannot tell you how much I wanted to see this happen~! *cough cough cough*) There was this image in my head where he was smiling in a way that I'd never seen. So, when I thought about how could that happen, it must be to surpass his older brother, who had been teaching him all along that he saw him as the better driver all along.
Aww…these two siblings always wring my heart out because they are so adorable~! Whether I'm writing them as rivals, brothers, or lovers, they just melt into my heart like eating really good chocolate. Yum~!
Tsubaki line. T_T I got a headache visualizing this track over and over. But, I still wanna play more ID! XD
*pompom cheering* And next chapter, (yay yay yay~! ) we are finally going to see the secret project~! I've been waiting for this one!
Love,
Yui
9/26/2016 2:06 AM – Los Angeles
9/26/2016 6:06 PM – Tokyo